Elevator traffic control



Nov. 12, 1963 w. A. NlKAzY 3,110,879

' ELEvAToR TRAFFIC CONTROL IN VEN TOR.

WALTER A. /V/KZY Nov. l2, 1963 w, A NlKAzY ELEvAToR TRAFFIC CONTROLFiled NOV. 8, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M L 2M ,d y w y 4 s T O S 3 E M a Qw w mm@ m@ u u M L l LUMCV, E: w: mfp

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INVENToR. WAL TER /V/KZY United States Patent 3,110,879 ELEVATOR TRAFFICCONTRL Walter A. Nikazy, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Toledo ScaleCorporation, Washington Township, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Nov.8, 1955, Ser. No. 545,760 Claims. (Cl. 3A0-20) This invention relates toautomatic elevators as are used in groups in commercial buildings and inparticular to means for directing passengers at a lobby oor to the nextcar to leave that `iloor in the regular dispatching sequence.

-It has been customary to provide illuminated signs adjacent or in thelobby doors to the various elevator cars of a bank to indicate which caris next to depart in the regular dispatching sequence. lMany peopledisregard these signs and enter any car that may be standing at thelobby floor with its doors open. Those entering cars other than the nextto leave are thereby inconvenienced by havin-g to wait an additionalperiod of time before their car leaves the floor and takes them to theirdestination. lt has also been observed that intending passengers at alobby iioor will almost invariably enter a lighted car if two cars arestanding at the floor one with its lights turned on and the other Withits lights dimmed or turned off. y

The principal object of this invention is to provide automatic means fordimming or extinguishing the interior lighting of elevator cars standingat a terminal iioor and awaiting their loading signals.

Another object of the invention is to provide auto` matic means ttorextinguishing the interior lighting of an elevator car a short timeafter it arrives at the lower terminal door and re-establishing theinterior lighting when the car is selected as the next to be dispatchedand is therefore ready to receive passengers.

Another object of the invention is' to provide entrance illumination forany car standing at the terminal floor during its loading period, i.e.,While it is receiving passengers preparatory to the next trip.

Another object of theinvention is to direct prospective passengers tothe proper elevator ear by varying the level of illumination at theentrance way to the cars, that one next to leave being brightlyilluminated and the others being 'dimly illuminated or completelydarkened.

More specilic objects yand advantages are obtainedfrom automaticcontrols constructed according to the invention. z

According to the invention the interior illumination of an elevator carand local illumination of the doorways for each of the cars iscontrolled by the dispatching relay system of the elevators. The relaysystem is arranged so that the local illumination of the elevatorentrance way is increased when that particular elevator has beenselected .as the next to be dispatched and prior to its actualdispatching. The interior illumination of the elevator car is 4arrangedto be at normal brilliance while the car is operating away `from thetermin-al iloor and While it is standing at a terminal floor for a briefinterval after its arrival and 'again when Vit is selected to be thenext car kto be dispatched or has received its dispatch signal. y y

Equipment `'for operating an elevator according tothe invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE ll is a front View of a lobby entrance of a four car bank ofelevators.

FIGURE Il is a schematicwiring diagram showing the control circuits thatare employed in dispatching and controlling the car illumination. f

ICC

FlGURE Ill is a schematic wiring diagram of the portions of the controlcircuits specific to one car and entrance way illumination means.

FIGURE IV is a simple schematic diagram of an alternative method ofcontrolling the car illumination level.

FIGURE V is a simple schematic diagram of another arrangement forcontrolling the car lights.

These specific figures and the accompanying description are intendedmerely to illustrate .the invention but not to impose limitations on itsscope.

Referring to FIGURE -I a bank of elevators may include a number ofelevator cars V1, 2, 3, and 4. An up hall call button 5 located betweencars 2 and 3 may be used to register up calls for service when theelevators are operating under light traffic conditions while only one ortwo cars may be in operating condition. Normally, the cars are arrangedto return to the lower terminal oor as soon as free so that cars arealways available at the terminal without calling them. The elevator carsl, 2, 3, and 4 are provided with loading signal lights 6, 7, S and 9 inthe form of spot lights adapted to brilliantly illuminate the licor areain the entrance Way to each of the elevators `when the car is to receivepassengers. In addition each ofthe cars are provided with van interiorillumination fixture such as the fixture 10- of car 1, 11 of car 2, 12of car 3'.

As shown in FIGURE l three of the cars namely-cars 1, 2 and 3 arestanding at the lower terminal floor with their doors open. Oar 4 iselsewhere inV its hatchway and its lobby door is closed. For purposes ofillustration it is assumed that car 1 has received its dispatchingsignal, that car 2 is selected as being the next to leave and that car 3has arrived at the lower terminal and has discharged its passengers.Under this condition the entrance signal light 6 of car 1 would bedeenergized or darkened while the interior illumination source 1t) wouldbe on and the doors would be ready or starting to close. When thedispatching signal was given to car 1, car 2 was selected as being thenext to be dispatched and its interior illumination from the lightingiixture 11 as well as the entrance illumination from ythe signal light7v both came on to attract prospective passengers to this car. Thelighting fixtures 8 and 12 for car 3 are deenengized at this time sothat that car is very dimly illuminated or is completely darkened.

Prospective passengers are thus attracted to car 2 under thecircumstances assumed even though car 1 is still illuminated and has itsdoors open. The extinguishing of the signal light 6, however, is aWarning that the doors of car 1 may close before la prospectivepassenger could reach those doors and enter thecar.

Circuits for controlling the car selection for dispatching and forcontrolling a lighting relay one lfor each of the cars for controllingthe interior illumination are illustrated in FGURE Il.

- In the equipment illustrated in FIGURE Il there are threeV relays foreach of the tour cars, thus. near the top of the iigure are four relaysmarked BTI, BTZ, BTS, BT4. These are bottom terminal relays and areenergized through the corresponding cars oor selector machine as p longas the car is standing at the bottom terminal. Next from line to linel1.

To facilitate tracing circuits each of the lines of the diagram isnumbered and adjacent each line number is a symbol corresponding to anyrelay coil that may be located in that numbered line. To the right ofeach symbol in this code strip is -a series of numbers which identifythe lines at which contacts operated by that particular relay coil areshown. Thus the number and locations of the contacts operated by eachrelay coil may be readily determined by noting the numbers in the code.An underscored code number indicates that that particular relay contactis closed when the operating coil is deenergized.

When an elevator car reaches the lower terminal it prepares a circuitwhich may or may not be immediately completed from a direct currentpower lead L1 through its selector machine brush .'15, then throughnormally closed down dispatch relay contacts CUD, then through anoperating coil of its loading relay CUL, and thence through another setof normally closed down dispatch relay contacts CUD to a lead 16 whichis connected through a series of normally closed loading relay contactsCUL shown in a vertical line extending from lines 5 to 10 inclusive, andthen through an inductance coil 17 connected to the return power lineL2. To trace the operation of this part of the circuit consider that nocars are present at the bottom terminal and that car 1 is the first toarrive. As car 1 arrives at the lower terminal it prepares and, since noother car is at the terminal, completes a circuit from the lead L1through the brush 15 in line 1l, thence through the up selection relayCULl in line ll and through the series of normally closed contacts shownAs soon as current builds up in the inductance coil 17 in this circuitthe relay CUL1 pulls in so as to close its contacts CULI in line 12 tocomplete a sealing circuit at the same time it opens its contacts CULIin the series circuit at line ll to break the circuit through theinductance coil 17. By breaking this circuit no other up loading relayCUL can be energized as long as this relay is energized.

The loading relay CUL, by contacts shown in FIGURE III, lines 31 and 37,provides bright illumination conditions in the car and in the entranceway.

Simultaneously the bottom terminal rel-ay BTI in line 1 is energized andpower is supplied through lead 13 to the dispatching relay CUD1 in line19 so that it may be energized as soon as conditions are ready fordispatching.

Under the assumed conditions none of the dispatching relays CUD areenergized. With car 1 at the lower terminal, the next dispatchingsignal, which is evidenced by closure of contacts SCC in line 18,permits current to flow from the brush 15 of the selector machinethrough the lead 18 to the dispatching relay CUD1 in line 19, thencethrough its contacts CUDI, now closed con-tacts CULl in line 19, throughleads 19 and 221ii to :a series of normally closed contacts CUD one oneach of the dispatching relays CUD and thenthrough contacts SS (closedas long,

as there is a demand for service) in line 1S and now closed contactsSCC, also in line 18 to the return lead L2. Closure of the dispatchrel-ay CUDl causes it to close its contacts CUDl in line 20 to establish`a holding circuit thro-ugh lead Z1 connectedto the return lead L2 inline l2, and open its contacts CUD1 in -line 11 to deenergize the uploading relay CUL1. This relay thereupon immediately releases so as toreclose its contacts CULl in series circuit lat line ll.

The deenergization of the loading relay opens its contacts lines 3l :and37, FIGURE III, to deenergize the light sources. T he ca-r lights remainbright since the dispatch relay CUD has closed i-ts contacts in line 32.

, brush 15, the up 'dispatch relay contacts CUDZ of the second elevator,then through its up loading relay coils CUL2 and another set of updispatch relay contacts CUDZ connected to the line 16, which, in turn,is connected to the return lead L2 through the up loading relay contactsCUL1, CUL2, CUL3, iand CUL4 and the inductance coil 17. The second relaythereupon is energized as soon as the first car received its dispatchsignal. If the thi-rd or fourth car had come into the bottom terminalduring this interval before the first car received its dispatch signalonly one of the relays CULZ, CUL3, or CUL4 would have been energized.This is accomplished by varying the pullin current or sensitivity of therelays @and -retarding the current built up in the coils by means of theinductance coil 17. The first relay to operate seals in and breaks thecircuit 4to the others. Thus if several cars are standing at the lowerterminal when one car receives its dispatch signal the next oar to leaveis selected according to its order in the bank rather than the time ofits arrival.

As soon as the first car leaves the bottom terminal in response to itsdispatching signal it breaks the contact between its brush 15 in line 11.and the selector machine contact so as to deenergize the up dispatchrelay CUDl and its bottom terminal relay BT. The relays thereuponreleaseand in so doing relay CUDl re-establishes the series circuit fromthe lead 20 through the dispatch relay contacts and the contacts SS andthe dispatch machine contacts SCC in line 18, and relay BT, among otherthings, closes its contact in line 30 of FIGURE III to keep the brightlights on in the car 1.

The elevator cars may be dispatched immediately upon arrival allowingtime only for unloading by closing the program timer contacts H3 in line13 thereby by-passing the series circuit of dispatch relay contacts CUD1to CUD4 inclusive. When this contact H3 is closed each of thedispatching relays CUD is energized very quickly after the correspondingcar reaches the lower terminal. The sequence in this case is to firstenergize the up loading relay CUL. As soon as this relay CUL pulls in itcloses its contacts to energize the corresponding dispatch relay CUD andit, in turn, deenergizes the up loading relay so that the loading relaycircuits respond to the next car to arrive whether the preceding carleaves immediately or not.

The cars also may be dispatched immediately in order of arrival byclosing contacts HPA in line 17. Under this condition only one car at atime may receive an up loading signalrby energizing its CUL relay but assoon as one of the CUL relays is energized it in turn energizes thecorresponding dispatch relay CUD without wait-ing for a dispatch signal.The CUD relay in turn deenergizes the corresponding up loading relay sothat the loading relay circuit may select the next car to leave butthesignal cannot be transferred to the up dispatch relay CUD until thepreviously selected car has departed from the licor so as to deenergizeits dispatch relay and complete the series circuit of contactsrCUDlthrough CUD4.

As previously mentioned, the contacts SS in line 18 are included toprevent transmitting a dispatching signal to a car unless there is acall for service. In the ordinary installation contacts SS are includedas part of the signal circuit andare closed as long 'as there is a callfor service registered.

FIGURE III shows the circuits that directly control the sources ofillumination for the interior of the car and the entrance way to thecar. These circuits are duplicated for each of the cars. The equipmentshown in FIGURE III includes a ux decay or'similar type of timing vrelayLT used to control the lighting circuits. This relay LT is energized byway of normally closed contacts BT, line 30, of the bottom terminalrelay or normally open contacts CUL, line 31, of the corresponding uploading relay CUL, the up dispatch relay contacts CUD, line 32, orcontacts PC (line 33) of a photocell relay operated by a light source 38and photocell 39 arranged to close energizing the light sources. Thesecircuits are ordinarily fed from alternating current power leads L3 andL4. Power for the entrance light which may also include the signal lightis taken from the lead L3 through contacts CUL, 'line 37, of the uploading relay and then through the entrance light and back to L4. Thusthe entrance light is on as long as a car is standing at the lowerterminal and is selected `as the next car to receive a dispatch signal.i

The elevator car interior may be illuminated by either or both of twosources, the first source providing dim and the other brightillumination. The dim illumination is provided by dim car lights 30,shown in line 35, which ,are energized from the lead L3 by way of a irst-switch 31 (the usual light switch in the car) and a second manuallyoperated switch 32. AS lon-g as both switches are closed the car isdimly illuminated. Bright lights 33 for the car, which may be includedin the fixtures 11 or 12, are controlled through the lirst manuallyoperated switch 31 land normally open contacts LT, line 36, of the lighttiming relay LT shown in line 31, the contacts in line 36 being inseries with the bright illumination means 33. Therefore, as long as thelight switch 31 is turned on and the light timing relay is energizedboth light sources 30 and 33 are energized to provide brightillumination in the car. s

When the car arrives at the lower terminal relay contacts BT in line 30are immediately opened. If the car is not immediately selected forloading or dispatching causing closing of contacts CUL or CUDrespectively no one is in or passing through the door the circuitfeeding the coil of the timing relay LT is broken and after a briefinterval of time, the usual unloading time, this relay releases so as toopen its contacts LT, line 36, in serie-s with the bright light source.Therefore, the lights will stay on for a long enough period of time toallow passengers within the car to leave the car before the brightlights are turned off. As soon as the car is selected as being the nextcar to be dispatched, which is by Way of the up loading relays CUL, thelight timing relay is again energized so as to again supply power to thebright car lights 33.

This circuit also provides means, the circuit in line 37 including thecontacts CUL, for energizing the light at the entrance to the elevatoronly during the loading period, 'turning the entrance light off when thecar is given its dispatch signal and maintaining the interiorillumination of the car during the loading and dispatching time andafter the car is away from the lower terminal, It further provides meansfor decreasing or eliminating the car illumination when the carfisstanding idle at the first licor.

Should it be desired to leave the car intotal darkness while it is idletheY switch 432 is left open so that the dim car lights are never used.n

FIGURE IV illustrates another means for energizing the bright car lightsand in this ligure car lights 35 are energized from `an alternatingcurrent lea-d L5 by way of a light switch 36, contacts LT of a lighttiming relay,

which may be the same as the relay shown in line 3d, and then throughIthe lights to a return lead L6. The con- -tacts LT are by-passed with aresistor 3-7 which is ladjusted to such a 'value that the lights fwillburn dimly when the relay contacts are open and be restored to normalbrightness when the contacts close. Fluorescent lights may be employedfor the bright lights if provision is made to keep the heaters orfilaments at the ends ofthe tube hot during idle periods.

FIGURE V shows still another circuit responsive to the car doorcontrols, the lower terminal relay, the loading, and the dispatchingrelays for controlling the car lights. In this arrangement the car doorcontrols, 'which may include photoelectric controls, operate contactsGA,

line 46, and close these contacts when the car is at a landing. Thebottom `terminal relay closes its contacts BT -when the car arrives atthe lower terminal. The loading and dispatching relays are .arranged toopen their contacts CUL and `CUD respectively when the car is seilected'for loading and dispatching. These contacts are arranged in series toenergize a motor driven timer T, line 46, as long as the car -isstanding at the lower terminal with doors open and not selected forloading and dispatch. At the expiration of the unloading time measuredby the timer T, it -opens its Icontacts T in line 45 to deenergize thebright car lights. The lights remain off until the circuit in line 46 isbroken by selection of the car for loading or closing of the doors.

Various modifications may be made in the circuit with- .out losing theadvantage of directing persons to the proper cars whilewaiting at theterminal tioor and without requiring intending passengers to read andobserve signs which ymay be illuminated by the car signal circuits. Thusproper response of the intending passengers is insured by using thenatural impulse of the passengers to select the more brightly lightedinteriors in preference of the darkened interiors of the waitin-gk cars.

Having `described the invention, I claim-z l. In a passenger elevatorsystem, means ttor controlling the yinterior illumination ofidle carswaiting at a terminal floor, comprising, in combination, an elevatorcar, a source of illumination for the elevator car, means Vfor signalingthe presence of the car at a terminal, a timer that is energized by saidmeans and that has contacts larranged to energize the illumination meanswhen the car is not at the terminal and Ifor a predetermined time afterthe arrival of the car lat the terminal, dispatcher selection means forselecting the next car to leave the terminal, dispatching means yfordispatching the selected car, and contacts on the selection anddispatching means -arranged to energize the .illumination source,whereby the illumination source is energized during unloading, loadingand travel- `ing times of the elevator car iand deenergized during idlestanding times.

2. In a passenger elevator system, in combination, an elevator car,means for continuously providing a low level of illumination in the car,means for providing increased illumination in the car, and means `forcontrolling the increased illumination comprising lirst rel-ay meansthat are actuated when the car is standing at a terminal floor and thatVare connected to deenergize the increased illumination means, timingrelay means that are connected to energize kthe Iillumination means fora predetermined timey Iafter arrival of the car at a terminal licor, anddispatching relays forselectin'g the next car to leave, said dispatchingrelays also having contacts connected to energize the illuminatio-nmeans when energized to select the car for dispatching.V

3. In a passenger elevator system, in combination, an eleva-tor car,terminal relay .means that are energized as thecar stops at a terminaliioor, means for illuminating the interior of the car, timer controlmeans -for 4the illaminating means, car selection and dispatching means,said timer control means being responsive to operation of contacts ofthe car selection and dispatching means and of the terminal relay meanswhereby the illuminating means is energized during and for a briefinterval after the stopping of the car, for the'entire interval the caris selected for dispatching and `for the entire interval it is inoperation between terminals.

4. In a passenger elevator system, in combination, an elevator car,lighting means -for the car,` a timer vfor controlling the Alightingmeans, and a series circuit for controlling the timer, said circuitincluding a set of contacts that are closed when the car doors are open,a terminal Y lioor relay having a set of contacts in said circuit thatare closed when the car is standing at a terminal, and contacts ofdispatcher selectin-g 4and dispatching relay in said circuit that areopened when the car is selected tor dispatching.

5. A system according to claim 3 in which the timer is a liux decayrelay and the contacts operated by the car doors, the dispatching andselection relays, and the terminal relay for reestablishing fullillumination `are connected in parallel.

6. An elevator system comprising a car, a closure for the car, means toilluminate the interior of the car to a iirst level, second means toreduce the level of i-llumination of the car interior substantiallybelow said iirst level 4while ata given landing with said closure in anopen position, means to sense a transfer of load between said car andlanding, and means to raise the level of illumination when said sensingmeans is operated in response to a transfer `of load between said carand said landing.

7. In an automatic passenger elevator system, means for control-ling theinterior illumination of cars automatically in response to the operatingconditions imposed on ythe car, comprising, in combination, :an elevatorcar, a source of illumination located within the elevator car, means forsignaling the presence of the car at a terminal floor, means to energizethe illumination source in response to the absence of the car from aterminal floor, means responsive to said signaling means indicating thepresence of the car at a terminal floor for deiining an intervalyfollowing arrival of the car at the terminal oor for energizing theillumination source, means responsive to said signaling means for-deenergizing said illumination source in response to the presence ofthe car at the terminal floor upon termination of said interval,dispatcher selection means for selecting the neXt car to leave theterminal, dispatching means for dispatching the selected car, and meansresponsive to the selection means for energizing the illuminationsource, whereby the illumination source is energized during unloading,loading and traveling times of the elevator car and deenergized` duringidle standing times.

8. In an automatic Ipassenger elevator system, means for controlling theinterior illumination of cars auto-matically in response to theoperating conditions imposed on the car, comprising, in combination, anelevator car, a source of illumination located within the elevator car,means for signaling the presence of the car at a terminal floor, meansto energize the illumination source in response to the absence of thecar from a terminal floor, means responsive to said signaling means fordeenergizring said illumination source in response to the presence ofthe car at the terminal iloor, dispatcher selection means for selectingthe next car to leave the terminal, dispatching means fory dispatchingthe selected car,'and means responsive to the selection means 'forenergizing the illumination source, whereby the illumination source isenergized during loading and traveling times of the elevator car anddeenergized during idle standing times.

9. In an automatic passenger elevator system having a plurality of cars,serving 1a dispatching terminal oor and additional oors, means forinfluencing the entryof intending .passengers into the car conditionedas the next to leave the terminal oor comprising, illuminating meanswithin each of said cars, controls `for said illuminating means to alterthe level of illumination, means automatically responsive to thedisplacement of an elevator car from the terminal oor for actuating saidcontrol to provide a high level of illumination by said illuminatingmeans `for said car, means automatically responsive to ithe arrival of acar at the terminal floor for actuating said control to maintain a highlevel of illumination by said illuminating means for said car tor aninterval following arrival of said car, means to select automatically acar at said terminal floor for loading and for dispatching from saidterminal floor, said control means being responsive to said carselection means while a car is selected to establish a high level ofillumination by said illuminating means for said car, and meansautomatically responsive to the termination of said interval followingarrival of a car at said terminal floor and the absence of the selectionof said car by said selecting means to actuate said control to reducethe level of illumination provided by said illumination means for saidcar to a level substantially jbelow said high level, whereby a carinterior is illuminated at a high level while displaced from saidterminal door, while unloading, and while selected for loading and fordispatching, and is illuminated at a low level during idle standing timeat said terminal floor.

.10. In an automatic passenger elevator system having a plurality ofcars serving a dispatching terminal floor and additional floors, meansfor inuencing the entry of intending passengers into the car conditionedas the next to leave the terminal iloor comprising, illuminating meanswithin each of said cars, controls for said illuminating means to alterthe level of illumination, means automaticallyV responsive to thedisplacement of an elevator car from the terminal tloor tor actuatingsaid control to provide a high level of .illumination by saidilluminating means lfor said car, means to select automatically a car atsaid terminal `floor for loading and for dispatching from said terminalfloor, said control means being responsive to said car selection meanswhile a car is selected to establish a high level of illumination bysaid illuminating means for said car, and means automatically responsiveto the presence of a car at said terminal door and the absence of theselection of said car by said selecting means toy actuate said controlto reduce the level of illumination provided by Isaid illumination meansfor said car to a level substantially below said high level, whereby acar interior is illuminated at a high level while displaced from saidterminal oor, and -while selected for loading and for dispatching, andis illuminated at a low level during idle standing time at said terminalfloor.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,722,672 Suozzo Nov. 1, 1955

8. IN AN AUTOMATIC PASSENGER ELEVATOR SYSTEM, MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THEINTERIOR ILLUMINATION OF CARS AUTOMATICALLY IN RESPONSE TO THE OPERATINGCONDITIONS IMPOSED ON THE CAR, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, AN ELEVATORCAR, A SOURCE OF ILLUMINATION LOCATED WITHIN THE ELEVATOR CAR, MEANS FORSIGNALING THE PRESENCE OF THE CAR AT A TERMINAL FLOOR, MEANS TO ENERGIZETHE ILLUMINATION SOURCE IN RESPONSE TO THE ABSENCE OF THE CAR FROM ATERMINAL FLOOR, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID SIGNALING MEANS FORDEENERGIZING SAID ILLUMINATION SOURCE IN RESPONSE TO THE PRESENCE OF THECAR AT THE TERMINAL FLOOR, DISPATCHER SELECTION MEANS FOR SELECTING THENEXT CAR TO LEAVE THE TERMINAL, DISPATCH-